Aggie Radio and The Utah Statesman Merge

The student media program at Utah State University has undergone many changes during the past five years. Longtime adviser Jay Wamsley retired after more than three decades, and The Statesman was moved under the leadership of the Student Involvement office.

Aggie Radio also moved under the Student Involvement office, and the two joined forces to become USU Student Media. As part of that move, in 2012, the Statesman office relocated to a much smaller office in the northwest corner of the TSC’s third floor. That move proved to be short-term, however, as the Statesman and Aggie Radio moved into the new Student Media Center on the first floor of the TSC this past January.

In the past two years, the Statesman, thanks to a digital focus, has seen unprecedented growth online and in social media with nearly a quarter-million users and more than 400,000 page views in 2016. The Statesman also did well in the award circle, winning 33 state and regional awards.

Aggie Radio also took a big leap in 2016, launching an FM station (92.3 KBLU-LP) — a culmination of nearly three years worth of work.

These programs are currently under the direction of Statesman alums Timothy Olsen (Statesman) and Nathan Laursen (Aggie Radio). We look forward to creating more engagement and interaction with our alumni base and our current students.

Remote Broadcast Pregame Show

Since Aggie Radio became an FM station, its listenership, music selection, shows, music selection and capabilities have increased substantially.

Ethan Chadwick, Evan Hall, J.D. Herndon, Jaden Johnson and Jason Walker took part in the station’s first remote broadcast on Saturday, February 4. They provided a live, pregame show commentary for the women’s basketball game against Boise State.

Chadwick said he was motivated to host remote broadcasts for better exposure and atmosphere when reporting and commentating.

“Remote broadcasts are a unique opportunity for exposure for Aggie Radio,” he said.

Chadwick hosted the broadcast while Hall, Johnson and Walker helped on air. Herndon worked from the Taggart Student Center studio helping with music and ensuring the broadcast ran smoothly.

Johnson said the remote broadcast would be a good way to advertise for Aggie Radio. He said it would help for people to hear live broadcasts directly from the stadium.

“I’ve seen and heard a ton of positive feedback,” he said. “I was told specifically by a few different people that they thought it was cool for us to actually be there on the arena concourse."

Herndon said he was interested in doing the live broadcast because of all the events that happen at the university. He also wanted to familiarize himself with the broadcast equipment and phone feature.  

“It’s just exciting for KBLU-LP Logan to continue to grow and expand its capabilities,” Herndon said. “I’d like to continue to seek out other events that could be live broadcast.”

Chadwick said he hoped to continue using the live broadcasts for sports play-by-plays. Like Herndon, Chadwick hopes to utilize live remote broadcasts for events outside of sports.

Johnson said the possibilities for live remote broadcasts are limitless. 

“The possibilities are really endless,” Johnson said. “I hope that all of USU student media really takes advantage of this new ability.”

We are now accepting nominations for the Alumni of the Year award as part of our annual awards banquet. This is an award given to a former student, employee, contributor, or member of the Utah Statesman who has enhanced the community and society in a positive way. An individual who has shown significant dedication to the development of the Utah Statesman staff and the organization’s success and reputation in the past year specifically.

Likewise, we need volunteers to help judge the nominations for the awards and volunteers to serve on the Student Media Board of Directors to help with hiring and making decisions regarding USU Student Media.

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